TEHRAN, July 26: Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has expressed alarm over the treatment of political activists by unofficial intelligence agencies, the country’s main reformist party told state media on Saturday.

Mr Khatami issued a formal complaint to the office he set up after his election in 1997 to record violations of constitutional rights, said the reformist party Iran Participation Front (IIPF), led by the president’s brother, Mohammad Reza Khatami.

The president’s written complaint claims that around 60 political radicals have been arrested by unofficial intelligence agencies, kept in isolation and subjected to psychological abuse to extract forced confessions, official news agency IRNA reported.

The office called on the IIPF secretary general to submit evidence so that the allegations could be investigated, IRNA added without elaborating.

Iranian officials are starting to acknowledge the existence of unofficial intelligence agencies, supported by certain elements in the Islamic republic, which are becoming increasingly active and influential.

3 NEWSMEN HELD: Three more Iranian journalists have been arrested this , week, press reports said on Saturday.

Cartoonist Arash Noorchian and cover designer Mohammad-Amin Golbaft, both from the monthly Gozaresh, were arrested on Wednesday on unspecified charges after failing to post the judicial bail demanded by Tehran’s prosecutor.

Security forces raided the monthly’s office on Wednesday, confiscating documents arresting the two journalists after searching the premises for some hours, according to the reports.

Nader Karimi, “adviser to the editorial”, was also arrested and sent to prison on Saturday following an order by the press court in Tehran, the student news agency ISNA reported.—AFP